The Study: In this study of data from California, 345 children under 18 years old were hospitalized from April 23, 2009 through August 11, 2009 for the flu. All had a laboratory-confirmed diagnosis of influenza A (H1N1). Two-thirds of these children had other chronic health problems and one-third were previously healthy.

The Results: Nine of the children died. Over a quarter of the children required treatment in a pediatric intensive care unit.

Comment: The flu is a potentially serious and lethal disease. It's not something to take lightly. Every year there are cases of otherwisehealthy children dying from the flu. It's essential that parents have their children immunized!